Co-Requisite Skills Support Labs

With the implementation of Multiple Measures for Placement, analysis of the completion and success rates for gateway English and Math courses indicated that some students needed additional support to successfully complete their courses. Notably the students in the lowest one-third of the placement GPA (2.6-2.99) succeed in gateway courses at rates much lower than the students placed with a high school GPA of 3.0 or greater. The college is actively pursuing ways to support these students to promote their success in college-level work. As a result of a Multiple Measures for Placement grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, supplemental skills support labs have been added as corequesites for all gateway English and math courses for the students who fall into the risk category entering college with an unweighted high school GPA of 2.6-2.99. Effective in Fall 2016, all students entering DCCC who are placed into gateway English or math courses via Multiple Measures for Placement with an unweighted high school GPA of 2.6 < 2.99 will be required to enroll in co-requisite lab aligned with their curriculum course. Early indications from the skills support labs indicate that students in this population struggle not only with the academic work but with college success skills such as organization and time management skills, resulting in not completing assigned work on time. Faculty members teaching the labs report that the greatest perceived benefit is of providing a structured environment in which students are supported in completing their work, increasing the likelihood that they will successfully complete their courses.